The present invention relates in general to a video server, and more particularly, to a method for programming a video client, such as a television, video cassette recorder, cable box, a personal computer, or a network computer, for distribution by a video server.
In recent years, video server and distribution systems have been implemented to allow television viewers to view certain movies on demand. In addition to viewing movies on demand, video servers have been implemented to allow for personal television viewing scheduling. In one embodiment of a personal television scheduler system developed by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), a simple and unique way of specifying a customized viewing schedule is implemented for television viewers. The interface implemented by IBM animates already familiar television schedule presentation formats, while adding additional capabilities. Specifically, the personal television scheduler system implements a television program listing format that is interactive. When any program listing within the listing format is activated (through a mouse click, highlighting through a remote control, and the like) either more information about the television program may be obtained or the program may be selected for viewing. A personal television watch bar comprises a bar listing the customized scheduler of the viewer. This schedule is built from the available listings and maintains the same format as the television listing guide. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the IBM system implements scroll bars and day change indicators from which the watch list is to be created in a format familiar to most computer users.
When a viewer tunes to a television station that is interactive with the personal television scheduler system, a menu that displays all the programs will be shown to the viewer during operation of the personal television scheduler system developed by IBM. Programs and applications, such as video-on-demand, home shopping, and games are just some of the examples of programs and applications that may be displayed in the menu. Furthermore, the personal television scheduler system described above is one of these applications. When a viewer selects the personal television scheduler application, a menu listing television programs for a specific day will be displayed on a television screen. In one embodiment of the IBM application, the screen is divided into two portions. The upper portion of the screen includes a watch bar that allows the viewer to move the selected programs into certain time slots. The lower part of this screen displays all the programs supported by the service provider. The viewer may then scroll up or down for that day""s program by clicking the up or down arrow icon in one embodiment of the present invention.
In this implementation of the personal TV scheduler application, a viewer can move a cursor to a program they are interested in and click a remote control button to obtain more details about that television program. Furthermore, to establish their own schedule, a viewer may move the cursor to the programs they want to watch and click the button twice to highlight the selected program. The viewer may then select one program or multiple programs from either a single network or multiple networks. Additionally, the viewer may select a combination of broadcast programs and interactive television programs. Based on the selection of television programs, the viewer may then copy these programs into available time slots on the upper part of the television screen. Once the programs are selected and copied, the viewer may save the programs in an appropriate manner. The saved program format will then be forwarded to the service provider for approval of scheduling. Additionally, the viewer may obtain details about the selected programs.
In the personal television scheduler described above, past, current and future broadcast material may be accessed. In some embodiments, the personal television interface may present program selections to the television viewer from the past days as well as upcoming broadcast material for inclusion in a customized schedule. In an alternate embodiment, the personal television scheduler replaces the programming facilities of a video-cassette recorder within a television viewer""s home. The program information for the personal television scheduler is sent from a cable TV head-end and is captured by the video-cassette recorder. Since the video-cassette recorder cannot access past material, unless the television is able to access past material, the personal television scheduler interface only allows the selection of future programs for recording and effectively replaces the programming facilities of the video-cassette recorder. The program information for the personal television scheduler is sent from the cable TV head-end and is captured by the video-cassette recorder. Since the video-cassette recorder cannot access past material, the personal television scheduler interface only allows the selection of future programs for recording. Thus, for example, the personal television scheduler does not allow an 11:00 broadcast of a program to be viewed at 10:00, but will allow the program""s viewing at 12:00. For additional information regarding the personal television scheduler implemented by IBM, refer to IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Volume 39, No. 8, published in August 1996, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
In addition to the personal television scheduler implemented by IBM, some programming systems utilize teletext information to program a video-cassette recorder in a similar manner. Teletext refers to a transmission protocol that allows characters and graphic information,such as news, weather forecast, stock market information, and translations of the words being spoken on a program, to be presented on a screen of a television or other display device. It should be noted that televisions have typically been developed with a built-in receiver for receiving teletext in a coded transmission system. Additionally, it should be noted that the teletext protocol is used to transmit television-program table information such as channel information, date information, time information, program code information, and title information, as well as other data typically transferred using the teletext protocols.
The programming source encodes character and graphic information into the teletext portion of the transmitted signal in accordance with the teletext protocol that has been defined by the television transmission industry. Subsequently, a television receiver with a teletext decoder decodes the character and graphic information to offer the services, such as news and weather forecast, that are displayed on the television or another display device. Additionally, to make teletext transmissions further widespread, television-program table information (including program title, program broadcasting date, programming broadcasting time, and the like) are encoded, transmitted as data by expanding transmission capabilities while compatibility with the conventional teletext protocol is maintained. This compatibility allows the teletext protocol to be utilized for video recording reservation by image recording/reproducing apparatus such as video tape recorders. An apparatus which performs such receiving and decoding operations is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,833 by Henmi, et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. An alternate teletext receiver that provides video-cassette recorder programming operations is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,707 by Kinghorn, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Teletext systems provide a great deal of flexibility and functionality for recording programs identified by television program tables. However, many television programs include shorter segments that may be of interest to a television viewer. Current programming techniques do not allow a user to specify that a segment or only a portion of a television program should be recorded or viewed. Thus, television viewers that xe2x80x9csurfxe2x80x9d television programs such as a television news show often discover an announcer describing or previewing an interesting segment that will be presented after a commercial or after a segment that is currently being aired. Such television viewers have no recourse to determine when the segment desired to be viewed will be actually aired.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and data processing system that allows a television viewer to determine when interesting segments of a television program will be displayed. Also, a need exists for a method for easily programming a television video-cassette recorder for future viewing or recording of a segment or program being described or previewed on the television.
The previously mentioned needs are fulfilled with the present invention. Accordingly, there is provided, in a first form, a communication system. The communication system includes a programming source for providing a teletext signal and a video signal. The video signal comprises a video portion and a first control portion. A first receiver is connected to the programming source for receiving the video signal. The first receiver decodes the first control portion to provide a first indicator and a second control portion. A communication device is connected to the first receiver for receiving the first indicator and the second control portion. The communication device provides the first indicator to indicate a characteristic of the video signal.
Additionally, there is provided, in a second form, a method for operating a communication system. The method includes the step of providing a video signal from a programming source. The video signal includes a video portion and a first control portion. The first control portion is decoded to provide a first indicator and a second control portion. The first indicator and the second control portion are provided to a communication device. The communication device is enabled to provide the first indicator to indicate a characteristic of the video signal.
Furthermore, there is provided, in a third form, a program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for operating a communication system. The method steps include providing a video signal from a programming source. The video signal includes a video portion and a first control portion. The first control portion is decoded to provide a first indicator and a second control portion. The first indicator signal is provided to a communication device. The communication device is enabled to provide the first indicator to indicate a characteristic of the video signal.
These and other features, and advantages, will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is important to note the drawings are not intended to represent the only form of the invention.